Sports

Sports Briefs

WASHINGTON--The Philadelphia Phillies are the 12th team in major-league history to have four players to hit 30 home runs in a season.

Raul Ibanez went long for the 29th and 30th times this season and Chase Utley hit No. 30 in Tuesday night's game against the Washington Nationals. They joined Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth in Philadelphia's 30-homer club.

The last major league team with a 30-homer foursome was the 2006 Chicago White Sox. The last NL club was the 2004 Chicago Cubs. The Phillies accomplished the feat for the first time in franchise history.

NESTOR FUMING AFTER BEING OUSTED

NEW YORK -- Canada's Daniel Nestor is out of the U. S. Open after an ill-tempered quarter-final loss in men's doubles action Tuesday.

The Toronto native and his Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic suffered a 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-0 loss to Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Andy Ram of Israel.

Nestor was furious with chair umpire Lynn Welch for not controlling what appeared to be a rowdy bunch who stood out in the sparely populated Grandstand stadium. They yelled and distracted in support of Mirnyi and Ram, which bothered Nestor and Zimonjic enough to complain.

"Your job is to say something, this is not Davis Cup," the 27-year-old Canadian told the chair. "There is something called sportsmanship."

He and the burly Ram then exchanged harsh words after the loss.

"I don't mind losing if we get beat," said Nestor. "But not losing if some guy in the crowd is acting like a jackass."

JORDAN PICKS COLLEGE PAL TO BE HIS PRESENTER

Michael Jordan has chosen David Thompson, another high flyer from North Carolina, to present him, while Charles Barkley and Isiah Thomas also will be presenters at the Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony.

Jordan highlights a class that includes David Robinson, John Stockton, and coaches Jerry Sloan of the Utah Jazz and C. Vivian Stringer of Rutgers. Each was asked to select a previous inductee to serve as a presenter at Friday's ceremony at Springfield, Mass.

Jordan went with a surprise by asking Thompson, the athletic swingman who led North Carolina State to the national championship in 1974 -eight years before Jordan won one for the rival Tar Heels.

Stockton, the career leader in assists, requested Thomas, like himself one of the best point guards in NBA history. Sloan, Stockton's coach in Utah, asked Barkley to give his presenting speech.

Barkley called Sloan's invitation "one of the greatest compliments of my life."

Robinson went with Larry Brown, his first NBA coach, and fellow San Antonio Spurs Hall of Famer George Gervin.

Stringer's choice of John Chaney was perhaps the least surprising. The longtime friends were coaches of the men's and women's teams at Division II Cheyney State at the same time.